Tulsa World: Tulsa looks to stay hot

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Tulsa looks to stay hot

TU guard Ben Uzoh (right) says the Hurricane still has plenty to play for despite already having locked up the No. 2 seed in next week's Conference USA Tournament. STEPHEN HOLMAN/Tulsa World

By ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer
Published: 3/7/2009 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 3/7/2009 3:06 AM

ESPN's Andy Katz wrote a blog this week that ended with an interesting twist.

"With the way this season is going, maybe the (NCAA Tournament selection) committee should value who wants to be in the tournament by earning wins in the final weeks as part of a criteria in its body-of-work analysis," Katz wrote. "Reward the teams that actually look like they want to go dancing."

Count the University of Tulsa as one of those teams.

TU (21-9 overall, 11-4 in Conference USA) wraps up the regular season with a contest at Rice at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Whether Tulsa is an at-large bid contender or not remains debatable. But the program is beginning to draw notice by many self-proclaimed "bracketologists," including Katz, after winning nine of its past 11 contests.

"We've gone from not being in the conversation to being prominently in the conversation," TU coach Doug Wojcik said.

The Golden Hurricane already has wrapped up the second seed in next week's C-USA Tournament and will face a Rice squad that has struggled much of the season. It's an easy game to take for granted, especially with the heavy lifting that lies ahead.

Junior Ben Uzoh disputes that notion.

"We have a lot to play for," Uzoh said. "We're playing for team chemistry and want to finish the season strong. We want to click on all cylinders going into the tournament."

TU and Rice will meet for the first time this season in the league's final day of games.

The Owls (9-20, 4-11) are playing for first-year head coach Ben Braun, who had spent the previous dozen seasons at Cal.

Saturday is Senior Day for Rice, which will honor four-year seasons Rodney Foster and Aleks Perka, as well as walk-on Zac Coffelt.

Foster is the team's leader, averaging 12.3 points and 4.6 assists a game.

"Like any game, this is dangerous," Wojcik said. "We need to exceed their energy. They have what they're playing for. We need our goals and dreams to outmatch and exceed their desire to go win the game."

So what are the keys to this one?

"What we do well has to be an issue in this game," Wojcik said. "We have to be physical, rebound and play tough defense."

Eric Bailey 581-8391
eric.bailey@tulsaworld.com By ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer

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GoldenDriller1, Out of State (3/7/2009 8:48:59 AM)

The Team will have to continue to be hot as they will need to win the C-USA Tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament.

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